Immunology

Immunology: timeline of key events

Date

Event

People

Places

Jenner was an English physician who helped pioneer the smallpox vaccine based on his hypothesis that the pus in blisters milkmaids received from cowpox protected them from smallpox. To test out his theory in 1796 he inoculated the 8 year old son of his gardener with pus taken from the cowpox blisters of a local milkmaid. While the boy suffered a fever he showed no sign of infection with smallpox. Jenner then injected the child with smallpox material, a common method of immunisation at the time, known as variolation. Again he showed no sign of infection. Following this, Jenner tested the same technique in 23 further people. Based on his success, in 1840 the British government outlawed variolation and provided Jenner's method for free to prevent smallpox. Jenner's work laid the foundation for immunisation as a method for preventing disease and for contemporary discoveries in immunology. 1749-05-17T00:00:00+0000

17 May 1749

Edward Jenner was born in Berkeley, United Kingdom

Jenner

Berkeley, United Kingdom

Jenner was an English physician who helped pioneer the smallpox vaccine based on his hypothesis that the pus in blisters milkmaids received from cowpox protected them from smallpox. To test out his theory in 1796 he inoculated the 8 year old son of his gardener with pus taken from the cowpox blisters of a local milkmaid. While the boy suffered a fever he showed now sign of infection with smallpox. Jenner then injected the child with smallpox material, a common method of immunisation at the time, known as variolation. Again he showed no sign of infection. Jenner then tested out the same technique in 23 further people. Based on his success, in 1840 the British government decided to outlaw variolation and instead provide Jenner's method for free to prevent smallpox. Jenner's work laid the foundation for immunisation as a method for preventing disease and for contemporary discoveries in immunology. 1823-01-26T00:00:00+0000

26 Jan 1823

Edward Jenner died

Jenner

Mechnikov was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his discovery of phagocytes (macrophages), a type of immune cell that protects the body by ingesting harmful foreign substances like bacteria and dead or dying cells. He made the discovery in 1882 while studying an unusual group of cells that clustered around thorns he pinned into starfish larvae. Based on this work he hypothesised that
inflammation resulted from the process by which white blood cells attacked and destroyed bacteria. The scientific community took time to accept this idea. 1845-05-16T00:00:00+0000

Richet was a physiologist who shared the 1913 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of anaphylaxis, an acute allergic reaction where extremely small doses of an allergen may cause life-threatening anaphylactic shock. This phenomenon he discovered with Paul Portier after they attempted to immunise dogs against a toxin from sea anemones. Some of these dogs developed respiratory distress and died when injected with a second dose of the toxin. Richet and Portier hypothesised this was due to reduced immunity and increased sensitivity to the toxin. Their finding provided the first evidence that the immune system could damage as well as provide protection against disease. Richet went on to help elucidate the cause of hay fever, asthma and other allergic reactions to foreign substances. 1850-08-26T00:00:00+0000

26 Aug 1850

Charles R Richet was born in Paris, France

Richet

Sorbonne University

Ehrlich played a significant role in the development of the first serum therapy to combat diphtheria in the 1890s and devised methods for standardising therapeutic serums. In addition he invented staining techniques for distinguishing different types of blood cells which laid the foundation for diagnosing blood disorders. In 1900 he popularised the 'magic bullet' concept which promoted the idea of developing a drug capable of killing specific disease-causing microbes, like bacteria, without harming the body itself. Nine years later he succeeded in creating Salvasan, the first drug created to target a specific pathogen and the first effective medical treatment for syphilis. Ehrlich also coined the term 'antibody' and transformed understandings of how the immune system worked. In 1908 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the back of this work. Despite his groundbreaking research, Ehrlich struggled to get a permanent position because of his Jewish background. 1854-03-14T00:00:00+0000

Landsteiner was an immunologist and pathologist who has been called the founder of transfusion medicine. In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery of the main human blood types (A, B and O), published in 1901, and for his development of the ABO system of blood typing which enabled blood transfusion to become a safe medical procedure. In 1909 he also helped discover the microorganism responsible for poliovirus which provided the foundation for the development of the polio vaccine. He also discovered the Rh factor in 1940. This is an inherited protein found on the surface of red blood cells. This can cause problems in pregnancy for women with the Rh-negative blood group whose foetus has the Rh-positive blood group. 1868-06-14T00:00:00+0000

14 Jun 1868

Karl Landsteiner was born in Vienna, Austria

Landsteiner

Rockefeller Institute

Bordet was a Belgian physician, immunologist and microbiologist. He is best known for winning the 1919 Nobel Prize for his discovery of two components in the blood - antibodies and complement proteins - that help destroy invading bacteria. They do this by rupturing the cell walls of the bacteria, a process known as bacteriolysis. Bordet made the discovery in 1895. He subsequently found, in 1898, that red blood cells from one animal species injected into another get destroyed by haemolysis - a process analogous to bacteriolysis. His research laid the foundation for the development of diagnostic tests that looked for antibodies in the blood to detect infectious agents. The first one was for typhoid, developed in 1896.1870-06-13T00:00:00+0000

13 Jun 1870

Jules Bordet was born in Soignies, Belgium

Bordet

Pasteur Institute

Heidelberger was one of the founders of immunochemistrty, a branch of biochemistry that investigates the mammalian immune system at the molecular level. He first made his mark in 1923 when he found, with Oswald Avery, that that the immune system could target bacterial sugars. The two scientists made the discovery while investigating a capsular substance that envelops pneumococcus and other species of bacteria. Their work helped determine that antibodies were proteins. It also paved the way to improving the production of more effective serum therapies for the prevention of bacterial infectious diseases like pneumonia and meningitis. 1888-04-29T00:00:00+0000

Humans treated with antiserum prepared against human cancer. This established the principle of using serotherapy to fight cancer

Hericourt, Richet

College de France

The vaccine was developed by William Coley, a New York surgeon, together with the pharmaceutical company Parke, Davis & Co. The vaccine contained a combination of heat-killed bacteria. 1899-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1899

First commercial vaccine developed for treatment of sarcoma

Coley

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Parke Davis & Co

A virologist and physician, Burnet is best known for his discovery of acquired immunological tolerance and demonstrating how the body recognises the difference between self and non-self. Burnet shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1960 for this work. His research helped advance the development of vaccines, tissue transplantation, monoclonal antibodies and associated therapies. In addition, Burnett made significant contributions to the development of techniques to grow and study the influenza virus, including hemagglutination assays. Based on his study of the genetics of the virus he showed that the influenza virus recombined at a high frequency. 1899-09-03T00:00:00+0000

First attempt to vaccinate against cancer with a patient's own tumour tissue

von Leyden, Blumenthal

Boyd was an immunologist who helped show that blood types are inherited and not influenced by the environment. Based on his genetic analysis of blood groups he divided the world population up into 13 distinct geographical races. 1903-03-04T00:00:00+0000

4 Mar 1903

William Clouser Boyd was born in Dearborn, Missouri, USA

Boyd

Boston University

Snell was a major founder of immunogenetics as a discipline. He is best known for helping to identify the major histocompatibility complex, a group of genes that code for proteins found on the surface of cells that help the immune system differentiate between self and nonself cells, and demonstrating its role in tissue graft rejection. This work laid the foundation for carrying out successful transplants in both animals and humans. Snell shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions'.1903-12-19T00:00:00+0000

19 Dec 1903

George D Snell was born in Bradford MA, USA

Snell

Jackson Laboratory

Chase was an immunologist who in the early 1940s discovered that white blood cells trigger the immune response in the body confronting a foreign invader. His finding laid to rest the belief that antibodies by themselves could protect the body from allergies and pathogens. Chase also uncovered the second arm of the immune system, known as cell-mediated immunity, paving the way to the discovery of lymphocyte cells and B and T cells.1905-09-17T00:00:00+0000

17 Sep 1905

Merrill W Chase born in Providence, RI, USA

Chase

Rockefeller University

Jerne shared the 1984 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system'. His work laid the foundation for the production of monoclonal antibodies. He was the founder and director of the Basel Institute of Immunology.1911-12-23T00:00:00+0000

Experiments by James B Murphy demonstrate that lymphocytes help animals reject grafted tumours

Murphy

Rockefeller Intitute

The experiments involved increasing the number of lymphocytes in the blood of mice by treating them with low doses of X-rays. JB Murphy, JJ Morton, 'The effects of X-rays on the resistance to cancer in mice', Science, 42 (1915), 842. 1915-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1915

James B Murphy puts forward hypothesis that the nonspecific stimulation of lymphocytes could provide a cure for cancer based on experiments he and John J Morton carried out on mice

Murphy, Morton

Rockefeller Institute

Medawar was a zoologist and biologist whose studies of graft rejection demonstrated the principle of acquired immunological tolerance, the state by which substances originally considered foreign become regarded as self by the immune system. This finding laid the foundation for tissue and organ transplantation. In 1960 Medawar was awarded the Nobel Prize for the work he did in the area. 1915-02-28T00:00:00+0000

28 Feb 1915

Peter Brian Medawar was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Medawar

University College London

Ehrlich played a significant role in the development of the first serum therapy to combat diphtheria in the 1890s and devised methods for standardising therapeutic serums. In addition he invented staining techniques for distinguishing different types of blood cells which laid the foundation for diagnosing blood disorders. In 1900 he popularised the 'magic bullet' concept which promoted the idea of developing a drug capable of killing specific disease-causing microbes, like bacteria, without harming the body itself. Nine years later he succeeded in creating Salvasan, the first drug created to target a specific pathogen and the first effective medical treatment for syphilis. Ehrlich also coined the term 'antibody' and transformed understandings of how the immune system worked. In 1908 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the back of this work. Despite his groundbreaking research, Ehrlich struggled to get a permanent position because of his Jewish background.1915-08-20T00:00:00+0000

20 Aug 1915

Paul Ehrlich died

Ehrlich

Goettingen University

The trials were carried out by James B Murphy and colleagues at the Rockefeller Institute. 1916-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1916 - 1922

Disappointing results reported from clinical trials treating breast cancer patients with low doses of X-ray radiation following tumour removal, discrediting the theory that stimulation of lymphocytes could help cure cancer.

Murphy

Rockefeller Institute

Mechnikov was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1908 for his discovery of phagocytes (macrophages), a type of immune cell that projects the body by ingesting harmful foreign substances like bacteria and dead or dying cells. He made the discovery in 1882 while studying an unusual group of cells that clustered around thorns he pinned into starfish larvae. Based on this work he hypothesised that inflammation resulted from the process by which white blood cells attacked and destroyed bacteria. The scientific community took time to accept this idea.1916-07-15T00:00:00+0000

15 Jul 1916

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov died

Mechnikov

Pasteur Institute

Dausset was an immunologist. In 1952 he noticed that white blood cells taken from patients who had received blood transfusions agglutinated when mixed with antibodies. He realised this was due to the genetic differences between donors and recipients. Eight years later he discovered the first leukocyte antigen, an important marker found on the surface of cells that helps the immune system recognise foreign substances. He subsequently worked out the complex relationship between tissue compatibility and graft survival. In 1980 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on tissue typing which is essential to the success of transplants. 1916-10-19T00:00:00+0000

19 Oct 1916

Jean Dausset was born in Toulouse, France

Dausset

University of Paris

Murray was a plastic surgeon. He performed the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins in 1954. The operation last five and half hours and involved the transplantation of a healthy kidney from Robert Herrick into his twin brother, Richard, who was dying of chronic nephritis. Four years later Murray performed the first successful transplant from a non-identical donor and in 1962 the first cadaveric renal transplant. In 1990 Murray shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease.' 1919-04-01T00:00:00+0000

1 Apr 1919

Joseph Murray was born in Milford MA, USA

Joseph Murray

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Thomas was a physician who was a major pioneer of cell and organ transplantation. He is best known for his development of bone marrow transplants, which became a life-saving treatment for blood cancers. Donnall developed the technique on the back of research carried out in the Manhattan Project which showed that 'factors' released by spleen cells stimulated the recovery of irradiated bone marrow. In 1993 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the basis of this research.1920-03-15T00:00:00+0000

15 Mar 1920

Edward Donnall Thomas was born in Mart, Texas, USA

Thomas

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Benacerraf was an immunologist who, based on experiments with guinea pigs in the 1960s, provided the pathway to understand how T lymphocytes recognise structures on the cell surface of foreign substances that invade the body. He showed that immune responses are controlled by genes that exist in a certain area on a certain chromosome. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1980 for his discoveries of genes that regulate immune responses and the role some of these genes play in autoimmune disorders. Born in Venezuaela and brought up in Paris, Bernaceraf and his parents were forced to move to United States in 1940 because of their Jewish heritage. 1920-10-29T00:00:00+0000

29 Oct 1920

Baruj Benacerraf was born in Caracas, Venezuela

Benacerraf

Harvard Medical School

Good was a physician and scientific researcher whose work on the cellular mechanisms of immunity earned him the reputation as one of the founders of modern immunology. In 1962 he helped demonstrate the two-component system of immunity. The first consisted of T cells, produced by the thymus gland, which he showed were important players in cell-mediated immunity. The second were the B cells, produced by the bone marrow, which he identified as responsible for producing antibodies. Three years later he demonstrated the important role tonsils play in the immune system. In addition to these landmark discoveries, he worked out, through experiments on mice, the crucial role of T cells in the rejection of skin allografts. He used this finding to perform the first successful bone marrow transplant between persons who were not identical twins. 1922-05-21T00:00:00+0000

21 May 1922

Robert A Good was born in Crosby, Minnesota, USA

Good

University of Minnesota

Askonas was a leading figure in immunology whose work helped to establish the basic mechanisms and components of immune system. Together with colleagues she developed one of the first systems for the cloning of antibody-forming B cells in vivo, some of the earliest monoclonal antibodies. She was also one of the first scientists to isolate and clone virus specific T lymphocytes, laying the foundation for defining different influenza sub-sets and improving vaccines.1923-04-01T00:00:00+0000

Milstein was an Argentinian biochemist. Together with Georges Kohler, Milstein developed the first unlimited supply of long-lasting monoclonal antibodies. Their technique now underpins the development and application of many diagnostics and therapeutics. Kohler and Milstein devised the method as part of their search for a tool to investigate how the immune system can make so many different kinds antibodies, each able to bind to a highly specific receptor on foreign substances that invade the body.
1927-10-08T00:00:00+0000

Autopsies carried out on tuberculosis patients show them less likely to have contracted cancer

Pearl

Johns Hopkins University

Edelman was a biologist renowned for his research on antibodies. His research helped determine the chemical structure of antibodies in the early 1960s. It showed that antibodies were made up of two light and heavy chains linked together by disulfide bonds. The breakthrough immediately galvanised feverish activity in all fields of immunological science, paving the way to the development of antibodies for both diagnostics and therapy. Edelman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1972 for his work.1929-07-01T00:00:00+0000

1 Jul 1929

Gerald M Edelman was born in New York NY, USA

Edelman

Rockefeller University

Miller was an immunologist who demonstrated the importance of the thymus in protecting the body against infections and rejecting foreign tissues. Prior to this the thymus was thought to have no function. Miller also identified two major subsets of lymphocytes (T and B cells) and that these interacted to allow normal antibody production. He later showed that T cells are produced by the thymus. In 1963 he provided the first evidence that thymus-derived immune cells can provide protection against certain tumours. This laid an stepping stone in the development of cancer immunotherapy. 1931-04-02T00:00:00+0000

April 1931

Jacques F.A.P. Miller was born in Nice, France

Miller

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute

Richet was a French physiologist who shared the 1913 Nobel Prize for Medicine for the discovery of anaphylaxis, an acute allergic reaction where extremely small doses of an allergen may cause life-threatening anaphylactic shock. This phenomenon he discovered with Paul Portier after they attempted to immunise dogs against a toxin from sea anemones. Some of these dogs developed respiratory distress and died when injected with a second dose of the toxin. Richet and Portier hypothesised this was due to reduced immunity and increased sensitivity to the toxin. Their finding provided the first evidence that the immune system could damage as well as provide protection against disease. Richet went on to help elucidate the cause of hay fever, asthma and other allergic reactions to foreign substances.1935-12-04T00:00:00+0000

4 Dec 1935

Charles R Richet died

Richet

Sorbonne University

Klinman was an immunologist who developed the splenic focus assay, a tool that allowed analysis of antibody production derived from single clones of B cells. He used the tool to analyse immune tolerance and immune responses to influenza. In additon he invented the splenic fragment system, a technique that helped generate some of earliest monoclonal antibodies against viral antigens and cancer. 1937-03-23T00:00:00+0000

Tonegawa is a Japanese molecular biologist who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for discovering how the immune system genetically changes the body's antibodies to counter different foreign invaders. Based on experiments he began on mice in 1976, he demonstrated that genes in mature B cells move around, recombine and get deleted to form the diversity of the variable region of antibodies. 1939-09-06T00:00:00+0000

6 Sep 1939

Susumu Tonegawa was born in Nagoya, Japan

Tonegawa

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The mice were developed by George Snell. 1940-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1940

The first cogenic line of inbred mouse strains were developed, which helped determine the major histocompatibility complex, a set of genes that code for proteins found on the surfaces of cells which help the immune system recognise foreign substances.

Snell

Jackson Laboratory

MK Barrett, 'The influence of genetic constitution upon the induction of resistance to transplantable tumors', Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 2 (1940), 387-93.1940-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1940

Inbred strains of mice bred at Jackson Memorial Laboratory showed that resistance to transplanted tumours were due to body's resistance to genetically different tissue

Barrett

Jackson Memorial Laboratoroies

Doherty was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for helping to discover how T cells recognise virus infected cells and showing the role of the major histocompatability complex in fighting the virus. His research is currently directed towards understanding and preventing the severe consequences of influenza virus infection. 1940-10-15T00:00:00+0000

15 Oct 1940

Peter C Doherty was born in Brisbane, Australia

Doherty

St Jude Children's Research Hospital

Landsteiner was an Austrian-American immunologist and pathologist who has been called the founder of transfusion medicine. In 1930 he won the Nobel Prize for Medicine for his discovery of the main human blood types (A, B and O), published in 1901, and for his development of the ABO system of blood typing which enabled blood transfusion to become a safe medical procedure. In 1909 he also helped discover the microorganism responsible for poliovirus which provided the foundation for the development of the polio vaccine. He also discovered the Rh factor in 1940. This is an inherited protein found on the surface of red blood cells. This can cause problems in pregnancy for women with the Rh-negative blood group whose foetus has the Rh-positive blood group.1943-06-26T00:00:00+0000

26 Jun 1943

Karl Landsteiner died

Landsteiner

Rockefeller Institute

Levinsky was an immunologist who specialised in immunodeficiency diseases. In 1979 he performed Britain's first successful bone marrow transplant at Great Ormond Street in London with Christine Kinnon and Adrian Thrasher. His work laid the pathway to the discovery of the genetic basis of several primary immunodeficiency diseases. He was one of the first scientists in the UK to obtain funding to conduct clinical trials using gene therapy to treat fatal immunodeficiency conditions. 1943-10-16T00:00:00+0000

16 Oct 1943

Roland Levinsky was born in Bloemfontein, South Africa

Levinsky

Great Ormond Street Hospital, Institute of Child Health, University College London

Zinkernagel is an immunologist and pathologist who shared the 1996 Nobel Prize for Medicine with Peter Doherty for discovering how the immune system distinguishes between virus infected cells and normal cells. This was based on experiments they carried out in mice in the 1970s to understand how the immune system protects against infection by the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus, which can cause meningitis. As a result of these experiments they discovered that white blood cells, known as cytotoxic T lymphocytes (or cytotoxic T cells) from an infected mouse would only destroy virus-infected cell from another mouse if both mice came from genetically identical strains. They found that T cells need to recognise two major receptors found on the surface of infected and normal cells which signalled whether they were foreign or self molecules. This provided for a new understanding of the general mechanism of cellular immunity.1944-01-06T00:00:00+0000

6 Jan 1944

Rolf M Zinkernagel was born in Basel, Switzerland

Zinkernagel

University of Zurich

Waldmann demonstrated how monoclonal antibodies could induce tolerance to foreign proteins and transplanted tissues. He and his team developed the first humanised monoclonal antibody (alemtuzumab) which is now used for combating leukaemia, preventing transplant rejection and treating autoimmune disorders such as multiple sclerosis and vasculitis.
1945-02-27T00:00:00+0000

27 Feb 1945

Herman Waldmann was born in United Kingdom

Waldmann

United Kingdom

Severity of GvHD in humans unforeseen, and seemingly insurmountable 1960-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Bordet was a Belgian physician, immunologist and microbiologist. He is best known for winning the 1919 Nobel Prize for his discovery of two components in the blood - antibodies and complement proteins - that help destroy invading bacteria. They do this by rupturing the cell walls of the bacteria, a process known as bacteriolysis. Bordet made the discovery in 1895. He subsequently found, in 1898, that red blood cells from one animal species injected into another get destroyed by haemolysis - a process analogous to bacteriolysis. His research laid the foundation for the development of diagnostic tests that looked for antibodies in the blood to detect infectious agents. The first one was for typhoid, developed in 1896. 1961-04-06T00:00:00+0000

6 Apr 1961

Jules Bordet died

Bordet

Pasteur Institute

The proceedure was performed by physician-scientist Robert Good to treat boy born with severe combined immunodeficiency. 1968-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1968

First successful bone marrow transplant from a sibling

Good

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

The observation was made by Hugh McDevitt and colleagues using two methods of genetic mapping to determine the immune response in immunised mice. The work suggested predictable, inherited susceptibility to some diseases. It was published in HO McDevitt, BD Deak, D Shreffler, J Klein, JH Stimpfling, GD Snell, 'Genetic control of the immune response', Journal of Experimental Medicine, 135 (1972), 1259-78. 1972-02-07T00:00:00+0000

Immune surveillance theory that immune system provides protection against cancer discredited by research showing that 'Nude' mice lacking immune system function no more likely to develop tumours than normal mice

Discovery of first T cell growth factor, later named Interleukin-2 (IL-2)

Morgan, Ruscetti, Gallo

Litton Bioethics Research Laboratories, National Cancer Institute

The work was conducted by a team led by Brigette Askonas. It was published in AJ McMichael, A Ting, HJ Zweerink, BA Askonas, 'HLA restriction of cell-mediated lysis of influenza virus-infected human cells', Nature, 270/5637 (1977), 524-6; AJ McMichael, BA Askonas, 'Influenza virus-specific cytotoxic T cells in man; induction and properties of the cytotoxic cell', European Journal Immunolology, 8 (1978), 705-11.1977-01-01T00:00:00+0000

Development of first anti-idiotype antibodies. These are shown to activate immune defense cells to attack tumour cells in guinea-pigs

Stevenson, Elliott

Tenovus Research Laboratory

Six groups of investigators working independently from each other made the discovery. Those involved in the work included Lionel Crawford and David Lane; Albert Deleo and Lloyd Old; and Arnold Levine. 1979-01-01T00:00:00+0000

An Australian virologist and physician, Burnet is best known for his discovery of acquired immunological tolerance and demonstrating how the body recognises the difference between self and non-self. Burnet shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1960 for this work. His research helped advance the development of vaccines, tissue transplantation, monoclonal antibodies and associated therapies. In addition, Burnett made significant contributions to the development of techniques to grow and study the influenza virus, including hemagglutination assays. Based on his study of the genetics of the virus he showed that the influenza virus recombined at a high frequency. 1985-08-31T00:00:00+0000

Medawar was a zoologist and biologist whose work on skin grafts demonstrated the principle of acquired immunological tolerance, the state by which substances originally considered foreign become regarded as self by the immune system. His work helped improve the success of tissue and organ transplants. In 1960 Medawar was awarded the Nobel Prize for the work he did in the area. 1987-10-02T00:00:00+0000

First use of genetically engineered T cells to redirect T cells to recognise and attack tumour cells

Gross, Waks, Eshhar

Weizmann Institute

The approval was given based on results from a clinical trial carried out by Harry Herr and Herbert Oettgen. The BCG vaccine stimulates an immune response that targets both the tuberculosis bacteria and bladder cancer cells. 1990-01-01T00:00:00+0000

1990

US FDA approved BCG, a bacterial vaccine against tuberculosis, to treat early stage bladder cancer. It was the first FDA approved immunotherapy

Herr, Oettgen

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

Heidelberger was one of the founders of immunochemistrty, a branch of biochemistry that investigates the mammalian immune system at the molecular level. He first made his mark in 1923 when he found with Oswald Avery that that the immune system could target bacterial sugars. The two scientists made the discovery while investigating a capsular substance that envelops pneumococcus and other species of bacteria. Their work helped determine that antibodies were proteins. It also paved the way to improving the production of more effective serum therapies for the prevention of bacterial infectious like pneumonia and meningitis.1991-06-25T00:00:00+0000

Identification and characterisation of the natural killer T cell, a lymphocyte able to bind and kill certain tumour and virus-infected cells

Bendelac

University of Chicago

Jerne shared the 1984 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'theories concerning the specificity in development and control of the immune system'. His work laid the foundation for the production of monoclonal antibodies. He was the founder and director of the Basel Institute of Immunology. 1994-10-07T00:00:00+0000

Snell was a major founder of immunogenetics as a discipline. He is best known for helping to identify the major histocompatibility complex, a group of genes that code for proteins found on the surface of cells that help the immune system differentiate between self and nonself cells, and demonstrating its role in tissue graft rejection. This work laid the foundation for carrying out successful transplants in both animals and humans. Snell shared the 1980 Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning genetically determined structures on the cell surface that regulate immunological reactions'.1996-06-06T00:00:00+0000

Milstein was an Argentinian biochemist. Together with Georges Kohler, Milstein developed the first unlimited supply of long-lasting monoclonal antibodies. Their technique now underpins the development and application of many diagnostics and therapeutics. Kohler and Milstein devised the method as part of their search for a tool to investigate how the immune system can make so many different kinds antibodies, each able to bind to a highly specific receptor on foreign substances that invade the body. 2002-03-24T00:00:00+0000

Genetic switch identified that controls the development of T cells, an important immune cell that controls against autoimmunity and excess inflammation

Fontenot, Gavin, Rudensky

Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of Washington

Good was an American physician and scientific researcher whose work on the cellular mechanisms of immunity earned him the reputation as one of the founders of modern immunology. In 1962 he helped demonstrate the two-component system of immunity. The first consisted of T cells, produced by the thymus gland, which he showed were important players in cell-mediated immunity. The second were the B cells, produced by the bone marrow, which he identified as responsible for producing antibodies. Three years later he demonstrated the important role tonsils play in the immune system. In addition to these landmark discoveries, he worked out, through experiments on mice, the crucial role of T cells in the rejection of skin allografts. He used this finding to perform the first successful bone marrow transplant between persons who were not identical twins.2003-06-13T00:00:00+0000

13 Jun 2003

Robert A Good died

Good

University of Minnesota

Chase was an American immunologist who in the early 1940s discovered that white blood cells trigger the immune response in the body confronting a foreign invader. His finding laid to rest the belief that antibodies by themselves could protect the body from allergies and pathogens. Chase also uncovered the second arm of the immune system, known as cell-mediated immunity, paving the way to the discovery of lymphocyte cells and B and T cells.2004-01-05T00:00:00+0000

5 Jan 2004

Merrill W Chase died

Chase

Rockefeller University

Dausset was a French immunologist. In 1952 he noticed that white blood cells taken from patients who had received blood transfusions agglutinated when mixed with antibodies. He realised this was due to the genetic differences between donors and recipients. Eight years later he discovered the first leukocyte antigen, an important marker found on the surface of cells that helps the immune system recognise foreign substances. He subsequently worked out the complex relationship between tissue compatibility and graft survival. In 1980 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his work on tissue typing which is essential to the success of transplants. 2009-06-06T00:00:00+0000

6 Jun 2009

Jean Dausset died

Dausset

University of Paris

Klinman was an American immunologist who developed the splenic focus assay, a tool that allowed analysis of antibody production derived from single clones of B cells. He used the tool to analyse immune tolerance and immune responses to influenza. In additon he invented the splenic fragment system, a technique that helped generate some of earliest monoclonal antibodies against viral antigens and cancer.2010-05-04T00:00:00+0000

Benacerraf was an immunologist who, based on experiments with guinea pigs in the 1960s, provided the pathway to understand how T lymphocytes recognise structures on the cell surface of foreign substances that invade the body. He showed that immune responses are controlled by genes that exist in a certain area on a certain chromosome. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1980 for his discoveries of genes that regulate immune responses and the role some of these genes play in autoimmune disorders. Born in Venezuaela and brought up in Paris, Bernaceraf and his parents were forced to move to United States in 1940 because of their Jewish heritage. 2011-08-02T00:00:00+0000

2 Aug 2011

Baruj Benacerraf died

Benacerraf

Harvard Medical School

Thomas was a physician who was a major pioneer of cell and organ transplantation. He is best known for his development of bone marrow transplants, which became a life-saving treatment for blood cancers. Donnall developed the technique on the back of research carried out in the Manhattan Project which showed that 'factors' released by spleen cells stimulated the recovery of irradiated bone marrow. In 1990 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine on the basis of this research.2012-10-20T00:00:00+0000

20 Oct 2012

E Donnall Thomas died

Thomas

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center

Murray was an American plastic surgeon. He performed the first successful kidney transplant between identical twins in 1954. The operation last five and half hours and involved the transplantation of a healthy kidney from Robert Herrick into his twin brother, Richard, who was dying of chronic nephritis. Four years later Murray performed the first successful transplant from a non-identical donor and in 1962 the first cadaveric renal transplant. In 1990 Murray shared the Nobel Prize for Medicine for 'discoveries concerning organ and cell transplantation in the treatment of human disease.' 2012-11-26T00:00:00+0000

26 Nov 2012

Joseph Murray died

Joseph Murray

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Askonas was a leading figure in immunology whose work helped to establish the basic mechanisms and components of immune system. Together with colleagues she developed one of the first systems for the cloning of antibody-forming B cells in vivo, some of the earliest monoclonal antibodies. She was also one of the first scientists to isolate and clone virus specific T lymphocytes, laying the foundation for defining different influenza sub-sets and improving vaccines. 2013-01-09T00:00:00+0000

Marketed as Lemtrada, the drug was the first ever ever humanised monoclonal antibody produced. It started life as a laboratory tool for investigating immune tolerance and was subsequently approved for the treatment of leukaemia. The drug has also proven useful for treating a number of other auto-immune conditions including vasculitis. 2014-04-04T00:00:00+0000

4 Apr 2014

British NICE recommends alemtuzumab as cost effective MS treatment

Compston, Coles, Waldmann, Winter

Cambridge University, Sanofi

Edelman was an American biologist renowned for his research on antibodies, the body's defense against harmful foreign substances like viruses and bacteria. His research helped determine the chemical structure of antibodies in the early 1960s. It showed that antibodies were made up of two light and heavy chains linked together by disulfide bonds. The breakthrough immediately galvanised feverish activity in all fields of immunological science, paving the way to the development of antibodies for both diagnostics and therapy. Edelman was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1972 for his work. 2014-05-17T00:00:00+0000

17 May 2014

Gerald M Edelman died

Edelman

Rockefeller University

Based on the analysis of data from hundreds of patients, scientists found markers on tumour cells flagging up very early mutations of the disease. The advantage is these appear on all tumour cells, thereby providing a good target for treatment. N. McGranahan, et al, 'Clonal neoantigens elicit T cell immunoreactivity and sensitivity to immune checkpoint blockade', Science, 351/6280 (2016), 1463-69. 2016-03-25T00:00:00+0000

25 Mar 2016

Common tags discovered on the surface of cancer cells opening up new avenues for immunotherapy

UK scientists show how the TALENs gene editing tool can be used to switch on the immune system to stop cancer. L. Menger, et al, 'TALEN-Mediated Inactivation of PD-1 in Tumor-Reactive Lymphocytes Promotes Intratumoral T-cell Persistence and Rejection of Established Tumors', Cancer Research, 2016, doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-15-3352. 2016-04-15T00:00:00+0000

Humans treated with antiserum prepared against human cancer. This established the principle of using serotherapy to fight cancer

1899

First commercial vaccine developed for treatment of sarcoma

3 Sep 1899

Frank Macfarlane Burnet born in Traralgon, Victoria, Australia

1902

First attempt to vaccinate against cancer with a patient's own tumour tissue

4 Mar 1903

William Clouser Boyd was born in Dearborn, Missouri, USA

19 Dec 1903

George D Snell was born in Bradford MA, USA

17 Sep 1905

Merrill W Chase born in Providence, RI, USA

23 Dec 1911

Niels K Jerne was born in London, United Kingdom

1914

Experiments by James B Murphy demonstrate that lymphocytes help animals reject grafted tumours

1915

James B Murphy puts forward hypothesis that the nonspecific stimulation of lymphocytes could provide a cure for cancer based on experiments he and John J Morton carried out on mice

28 Feb 1915

Peter Brian Medawar was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

20 Aug 1915

Paul Ehrlich died

1916 - 1922

Disappointing results reported from clinical trials treating breast cancer patients with low doses of X-ray radiation following tumour removal, discrediting the theory that stimulation of lymphocytes could help cure cancer.

15 Jul 1916

Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov died

19 Oct 1916

Jean Dausset was born in Toulouse, France

1 Apr 1919

Joseph Murray was born in Milford MA, USA

15 Mar 1920

Edward Donnall Thomas was born in Mart, Texas, USA

29 Oct 1920

Baruj Benacerraf was born in Caracas, Venezuela

21 May 1922

Robert A Good was born in Crosby, Minnesota, USA

1 Apr 1923

Brigitte Askonas was born in Vienna, Austria

8 Oct 1927

Cesar Milstein was born in Bahia Blanca, Argentina

1929

First molecular marker, antigen, identified on a tumour, laying foundation for use of antibodies to diagnose and treat cancer

1929

Jackson Memorial Laboratories established to develop inbred strains of mice to study the genetics of cancer and other diseases

Apr 1929

Autopsies carried out on tuberculosis patients show them less likely to have contracted cancer

1 Jul 1929

Gerald M Edelman was born in New York NY, USA

Apr 1931

Jacques F.A.P. Miller was born in Nice, France

4 Dec 1935

Charles R Richet died

23 Mar 1937

Norman Klinman was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

6 Sep 1939

Susumu Tonegawa was born in Nagoya, Japan

1940

The first cogenic line of inbred mouse strains were developed, which helped determine the major histocompatibility complex, a set of genes that code for proteins found on the surfaces of cells which help the immune system recognise foreign substances.

1940

Inbred strains of mice bred at Jackson Memorial Laboratory showed that resistance to transplanted tumours were due to body's resistance to genetically different tissue

Immune surveillance theory that immune system provides protection against cancer discredited by research showing that 'Nude' mice lacking immune system function no more likely to develop tumours than normal mice

Feb 1975

Natural killer cell identified in mice and shown to be important part of immune system